Disney and Dundas -a match made in movie heaven

Here at Dundas we take great pride in being involved in the final menu options that our fantastic chefs propose each year. We take each and every dish, accompaniment and condiment very seriously – even the jam is tasted by the team so that we are safe in the knowledge that our guests enjoy only the very best when they dine here at the Castle.
We’ve had a day of culinary delights here at Dundas!
From delivering freshly made pancakes and lemon curd to clients, to making delicious raspberry jam, to enjoying some homemade pancakes and chocolate cake we’ve certainly been busy...
Today is Shrove Tuesday and Frances delighted some of her sales appointments with a gift of fresh pancakes and homemade lemon curd. They went down so well that we thought we would share our Executive Head Chef Trevor's recipe so that you can enjoy your own!
Rudolph has contracted the cervine strain of the terrifying man flu and may be unable to fulfil his duties this Christmas. Luckily, Dundas Castle has stepped in to ensure that children across the world will still get their well earned presents this year.
In August 2011 we were delighted to welcome HRH The Duke of Edinburgh to the Castle for a very special occasion. Volunteers from the RNLI (Royal National Lifeboat Institution) met at the Castle to witness the naming ceremony of Scotland’s newest RNLI boat. The Atlantic 85 boat was named ‘Jimmie Cairncross’ after the Perth jeweller who was a Life Governer of the RNLI whose trust donated the funds that were required to buy the boat.
We were delighted when Make-A-Wish UK approached us to help make the wish of 4 year old Victoria Stewart come true. She has the life threatening Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia and was fortunate enough to be part of the Make-a-Wish Foundation charity. Her wish was to be a Princess for the day and to dance with a Prince.
Guest blogger - Alan and Jackie Rankine, wedding photographers...
Jazz, jewels, veils, cakes, cucumber sandwiches and 100 happily married couples came together on the 29th May 2011 at the Castle for our 1000th Wedding Party....
The Croquet Match by Sir John Lavery, 1893... I’m something of an art fan and in particular have always been enthralled by 19th century portraits and landscapes. The Castle has an impressive collection and at every turn there is another beautiful picture to enjoy. My favourites include ‘The Orchard’ hung in the Summer Bedroom, the Portrait of Sir Jack’s Sister, ‘Norina’ which you can see in the Drawing Room and of course ‘The Croquet Match’ painted by Sir John Lavery, which is on display in the Dining Room.
The Ivories catch Jill's eye... As a young girl I enjoyed tinkling on our family piano and when I was aged 8, my parents encouraged me to have piano lessons. From there it became a dream of mine to play on a grand piano. Aside from the stunning surroundings and wonderful interiors, one of the first things to catch my eye when I joined Dundas Castle, was the beautiful grand piano in the Drawing Room. I was simply itching to play it!
WW2 leaves its mark on Dundas... There is one part of the castle that has always enthralled me and that is the roof of the Auld Keep. The Auld Keep was built in 1416 by James Dundas as granted by Scotland’s effective ruler at the time, the Duke of Albany. Because the Auld Keep is very much the way that it was when it was built, you really feel as though you are part of the history and can easily envisage what it must have been like to live in the medieval tower when it was built.
Dundas Castle was delighted to hold its 1000th wedding on 4th December 2010....
We’ve had an eventful year this year - we’ve been joined by 2 new members of the office team, 2 new members of the operations team, 4 new llamas, 1 new stable roof and celebrated our 1,000th wedding. And it doesn’t stop there...
We are feeling very festive here at Dundas Castle now that the tree is up in the hallway. Each year we choose our tree from the Hopetoun Estate and this year we have another full and perfectly formed tree hand picked by Marty, our Head Groundskeeper.
Our Marketing Manager, Siobhán Leith, returned safe and sound from a snowy but fantastic HIT Scholarship at De Vere’s Cameron House at the start of December. Siobhán spent 4 days staying at the hotel and working with the sales and marketing team to experience some of the running and back ground work that goes into the hotel.
Our Assistant Operations Manager, Ricarda Plews has just returned from a 3 day trip to Lausanne in Switzerland where she attended the Lausanne Hotel School. Ricarda was awarded a highly sought-after HIT Scholarship (Hospitality Industry Trust) which gave her a place at this prestigious school with likeminded scholars from all over Scotland.
On 25th September 2010, our wonderful Head Housekeeper Flora married Michael Reilly at the spectacular and remote Kisimul Castle on the Isle-of-Barra. They were very honored to have Dundas Castle owners Sir Jack and Lady Lydia as special guests. Sir Jack gave permission for Flora to use some Dundas Estate greenery to help decorate Kisimul castle which meant that she could take something from her 'home' in Edinburgh to her native home in Barra.
Congratulations to our Marketing Manager Siobhán Leith who was married at The George Hotel in Edinburgh on 17th April this year. The Dundas Castle office team were invited to share Siobhán and David’s day and enjoyed having their own wedding to plan and then buy a hat for!